


Niklaus

by Riddle



Category: The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M, Klaroline, Time Travel, human!klaus, hurt comfort, slightly AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-30
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2020-09-30 23:53:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20455634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Riddle/pseuds/Riddle
Summary: After a dire warning from Silas on the other side, Bonnie learns that the very roots of magic and the supernatural themselves are being targeted. Someone is trying to destroy magic from it's origin and their next target is Klaus Mikaelson. In trying to save his life and therefore their own, they turn back the clock to protect a very different and still very human Niklaus Mikaelson.





	1. Chapter 1

The first indication that something was wrong came at the stroke of midnight. 

Bonnie was still awake and pouring through the next series of pages in her grandmother’s grimoire when she felt it pass through her like a shock wave. The ancient parchment papers surged forward violently as though caught in a gust of wind. The candles arranged in the circumference of her casting salt circle flickered and died blowing away in a puff of black smoke. Bonnie herself felt each nerve in her body ignite with electricity as her muscles tensed and her vision went dark. 

In her sleep she saw heard a familiar voice. 

“Bonnie Bennet.” 

It…it couldn’t be….

“Bonnie listen to me,” it spoke again and Bonnie was sure “I don’t have much time but you have to listen.” 

She gritted her teeth and felt her nails dig into the palm of her hand. 

“Silas.” She said in a low hiss 

Her jaw and shoulders were set on edge as she felt a protective wave of adrenaline pulse through her. 

“I don’t want anything from you,” she growled “You should have stayed dead.” 

“No such luck Sabrina,” his metallic voice joked, “I’ve been praying for my death for millennia, and I was near peace until I was torn out of it.” 

Bonnie felt her eyebrows furrow 

“What woke you?” She was hesitant to even ask

“Something is wrong, there’s an imbalance, some part of your world just changed and I don’t know why.” 

“What are you talking about?” 

“I don’t know,” he admitted, an uneasy shiver ran through his voice “but each life that grew from my immortality spell, each life affected by the doppelganger curse, and each life changed by the vampire curse that followed is like a series of lights in a chain. Qetsiyah and I started this fire and we’ve always had a magical connection to the branches of it that formed even after we were cursed.”

Bonnie didn’t know what to say. She’d always heard that powerful magic could root itself into the very soul of the witch who cast it, but what Silas was describing was something altogether new. 

“You’re connected to the vampires and witches who descended from your curse?” She whispered astonished “Since when?” 

“Its another sense that connects us to the mystical creatures that stemmed from our magic. It has always been there as a sort of dull drone constantly ringing in our ears, nothing to write home about, but tonight something went wrong. It’s dying out, its as if each of those lights is fading and the chains are breaking.” 

“What’s dying?” 

“They are!” he jeered harshly as if suddenly overtaken by pain “Everyone our curse connected us to; everyone whose existence was derived from our magic. That includes all of you and your little friends in case I haven’t been clear.” 

“Why should I trust anything you have to say?!” she challenged swallowing back her own fear “You tried to kill us all, how do I know this isn’t some kind of trick?” 

“I guess you don’t,” his voice strained sounding farther away “but I’m using the last of my consciousness to tell you, because as each of those lights goes out another branch on our tree dies and the very source of our magic and yours dies with it.”

“Who is doing this, what does it mean?!” she called into the void feeling Silas’ presence move further away 

“Start from the roots! A tree grows from it’s roots!” his voice shouted until it was too far away to be heard, and his spirit was too far to be felt 

Bonnie woke with a start 

The room around her looked as though a bomb had gone off. Her books had all been torn from their shelves and tables and chairs had been overturned. The protective salt circle was forced open and the candles around her had now gone cold. She felt her head throb and a stream of blood came from her nose as she struggled to ground herself and catch her breath. 

What had just happened?

She stood up shakily, relying heavily on the overturned bookcase beside her for support. Slowing she shuffled her weak shaking legs towards the door and thrust it open feeling the cool autumnal air rush in and brush her cheek. 

She made it a few more feet before collapsing beneath the roots of an old willow tree at the nearest edges of the property. 

She closed her eyes and pressed her palm to the roots of the willow tree feeling its magic, trying to become one with it’s nature energy. It crept up her arm like a warm ray of sunshine and she felt the magic engulf her. 

“Show me the lights, show me the chain.” She prompted asking the elements for help 

She had to see for herself it Silas had been lying or not

The magic bent to her will and with a tug in her stomach a gossamer web of glowing golden threads appeared around her. Each one intersected with another creating bulbs of physical power that she could feel as they grew and manifested. It closely resembled a sort of root system stemming from two large bulbs at the top branching out in all directions to smaller dots that descended in power. Bonnie knew instinctively that each one of these lights was a person, each one of these lights was a soul imbued with magic just as Silas had said. 

They each held a soft glow that flickered like the wick of a candle, they moved and shuffled together as if one large organism that was more than the sum of its parts. These bulbs were connected and entwined, any break in these chains would be like dams in a river blocking and destroying the flow of magic through its veins. 

She studied the web closely analyzing the interconnected strands and beads feeling satisfied that each light felt healthy and strong. Until a dizzy fatigue washed over her and a sent her reeling backwards forcefully. When her eyes opened again it was as though the entire web had dimmed and the two largest dots at the top of the web had gone out like extinguished fires. 

“…No…” 

The illusion began to fade away as Bonnie felt her connection to the magic fall apart. 

She tried again to summon the magic but it was beyond her reach now. She forced her own magic to mix and integrate with the nature magic in the tree, trying to supercharge it like a battery. She needed to know one last thing before she gave in. The pale and dim light of the web buzzed around her, weak and sickly flickering like an old bulb. 

“Silas.” She said sorting through the power of the web to locate his energy

There was nothing there. 

Bonnie did not even give herself enough time to recover after releasing the spell and opening her eyes. This had been the proof that she had needed—Silas was telling the truth. Something out there was destroying the very roots of magic and the effect was already devastating. 

She made one frantic call to Elena and in an hour every supernatural element in Mystic Falls was gathered under the Salvatore Boarding House roof. 

Naturally everyone was barely grasping her hysterical explanations and pleas. She could hear that she wasn’t making sense but she couldn’t help the terrified stream of words pouring out of her mouth. 

“You heard from Silas?” Stefan said incredulously “He’s dead.” 

Bonnie had never thought there was much similarity between Silas and Stefan but hearing his voice just now eerily made her feel different. 

“He said he was, but he was jolted out of his death by some deep seeded magical connection he has with the descendants of his curse.” 

“We’re not descendants of his curse.” Damon stated as if it were an insult 

“Not directly, but that immortality magic opened to the door to vampirism not to mention that it created the doppelganger curse. Like it or not, magic that powerful is woven into us all.”

“What does that mean though?” Caroline interjected 

“It means that if Silas was telling the truth, and I believe he was, that magic is the basis for all of us. It’s written into every mystical being like a background base-code, and if that magic is disappearing then we will disappear with it and all the magic in the world will fade away. I will lose my connection to magic and my ancestors forever, and…well…vampires and doppelgangers will fade away too.”

There was a deafening silence that followed 

Stefan and Damon’s eyes met, and they both locked eyes with Elena. Caroline’s eyes widened and she cupped her hands around her mouth in shock. Elena reached out her hand to grasp Caroline’s and then Bonnie’s as well. 

Elena swallowed abruptly “So then we stop it.” 

She spoke with much more courage and certainty than Bonnie felt. 

“How?”

Bonnie shook her head absently and nervously biting her thumbnail out of habit. 

“Silas said that the people connected to his magic were dying.” Bonnie recalled 

“Okay,” Caroline said with a stoic nod “So we have to stop magical creatures from dying then? Easy enough.” 

“It might not be so easy Car,” Bonnie muttered “I tried to tap back into Silas’s energy after confirming his story but I couldn’t find him. Whatever this is, it’s powerful enough to destroy Silas and Qetsiyah from beyond the grave.” 

“What did this web look like?” Elena asked with a puzzled look settling over her face 

“Kind of like a family tree, lots of branches and stems and roots. But was more convoluted and messed up.” 

“Its never easy is it. Fucking typical.” Damon scoffed rolling his eyes 

Elena gave him a stern look telling him he wasn’t helping. 

“Okay and you said Silas and Qetsiyah’s energy was gone from the web right? So those largest lights you saw go out must have represented their lifelines? Or at least the representations of their magic.” 

Bonnie nodded

“I think that’s why I felt their loss so strongly, the curse started with them, a lot of our magic can be traced back to travelers in one way or another, so as it goes out, it has ripple effects.” 

Damon chipped in “If I were trying to uproot all supernatural beings, I’d certainly want to start with the figurative Mom and Pop at the top of the family tree. You kill anything best by going for the roots.” 

“The roots…” Bonnie repeated it in a hushed tone remembering Silas’s last words 

A surge of blood boiled into her cheeks and she sat bolt up right. 

“That’s it!”

“What’s it?” Caroline asked startled

“Silas said we need to start with the roots, he meant that we need to save the roots because that’s the weakest point. Whoever is doing this, is going for the source of the power by starting with the first beings to have it who passed it down to the rest of us, they are the source of us all and are like the magical well that we all draw from.” 

“So we just have to find out who is next in line to be taken out and keep that from happening and maybe we’ll find whoever is behind this?” Elena suggested hopefully 

Bonnie nodded. 

“I need to tap back into the web but my magic is depleted and I don’t think I can reach it alone.” 

Stefan reached out an open palm to her 

“Draw whatever you can from me, you need to see who is next.”

Bonnie agreed and grasped his hand tightly pulling the magic from Stefan’s vampire body as quickly as she could knowing she couldn’t sustain this for long. Stefan was a powerful vampire but even his magic was limited. 

Thankfully what she drew was enough for her to locate the faint and fading web once again.

She traced her finger along the dark and empty top bulbs feeling the echo of Silas and Qetsiyah’s energy lingering. Their bulbs had been large and bright and so Bonnie figured that she had to locate the next largest and brightest bulb in the line. There were a few smaller and duller bulbs closest to the top probably representing creatures of ancient origin but with minimal power of their own—those wouldn’t be the strategic targets. 

She moved her finger down the line feeling the bulbs like braille until her finger landed on a bright and pulsing yellow bulb. It was powerful and old Bonnie felt it’s strangely familiar energy. This was the next target, she was sure. 

She pressed into it trying to pin point the location and as she did she realized what was happening. The energy shot her back and her eyes flashed open and Stefan and her both stumbled backwards feeling like they’d just had the wind knocked out of them. 

Her eyes met Stefan’s. He looked shocked and startled, and Bonnie knew that he had felt it too. 

His jaw hung open and his eyes were weary. He turned from her and set his eyes on Caroline with a concerned and sorrowful expression. 

“Who is it?” Elena asked 

Bonnie blew out a breath and shifted her weight nervously 

“Klaus Mikaelson.” 

Damon’s brow furrowed and he spun around on his feels and smashed his fist into the wall. He grunted for a moment and then turned around with a pained but resigned expression. 

“Of course it is.” He sneered 

Caroline almost laughed “Uh, what? Seriously?” 

She scoffed and shifted her eyes back and forth while she processed that information. 

“How is that possible? Klaus is in New Orleans with the rest of the Mikaelsons. Who in their right mind would try and take him on surrounded by that many Originals? It’s a suicide mission.” 

Bonnie had to agree; it wasn’t a good plan to take on someone like Klaus who was already an unkillable hybrid especially while he was also backed up by several other Original siblings and more than a few powerful witches from what she had heard. 

“They don’t need to,” Elena said stepping forward “I mean, Silas and Qetsiyah were taken down from the afterlife, alive they would have been a greater threat but they were targeted as spirits instead.” 

“Klaus isn’t dead,” Damon reminded them all “Unfortunately.” 

“Fortunately for you all I think you mean.” Bonnie said reminding Damon that their lives were still very much tied to Klaus’s well being 

“I know Damon,” Elena said here eyes still clearly deep in thought “But I just meant that whatever is doing this is clearly able to reach out beyond the current world. They accessed Silas beyond this side—probably because it was easier to kill a witch without his access to all available magic—so they would approach Klaus the same way.” 

“…They would try to take him down when he was weakest, disconnected from magic…” Stefan mused, the cogs in his head turning. 

“Where even is that?” Caroline asked nearly laughing, the idea of a weak Klaus seemed completely ridiculous to her, she couldn’t picture it. Even at his most trapped and bound he had always seemed to have the power. 

“At his roots.” Bonnie decided

They all turned in silence and faced her now standing in a horseshoe towards the Salvatore’s great fireplace. 

“They’re going to try and take Klaus down by his roots,” she explained “They are going to go back and kill him before he ever became a vampire.”


	2. Chapter 2

The room was filled with a deafening silence. 

“A human Klaus Mikaelson…” Caroline breathed suddenly very interested in the floorboards at her feet “I can’t even picture it.”

Damon scoffed “Tell me about it, the thought of that psycho running around with a pulse is beyond me.” 

“Good thing you don’t have to picture it,” Bonnie inserted “We just need to protect him.” 

Another concept no one could quite wrap their heads around. 

“But is that something we can even do?” Stefan asked looking inquisitively at Bonnie 

“It’ll require a lot of magic, but theoretically yes.” Bonnie said 

She wasn’t thrilled at the prospect of trying to channel that much magic at one time but the time for making the easy confortable choice was gone. She knew the vague mechanics about how to structure the spell, but the magic needed to power it was the real problem. 

“The problem is that even since Silas and Qetsiyah faded away my connection to my magic isn’t as strong as I need it to be.” 

“So we just need to plug you in and let you recharge over night or what?” Damon joked

“You can channel me again.” Stefan said holding out his hand for her to take 

It had felt like all of his energy was being pulled out of him, and it was not a gentle sort of pull so much as a violent and excruciating wrench. Stefan was not eager to revisit that feeling again, but the look on Bonnie’s face made it clear that making this work was the only option. 

“Step back little brother,” Damon scolded positioning himself between Bonnie and Stefan defensively “She already sucked you dry once, you’re done. I’ll do it.” 

Bonnie shook her head. 

“This is a big spell Damon, I’m talking cosmically big. I’ve only heard rumors about witches performing even smaller versions of this kind of magic,” Bonnie said “We’re talking about trying to go back over a thousand years in time, channeling one of you won’t be enough.” 

“So what then?” Elena asked 

“I’ll need to channel you all if we have any hope of getting this spell to work.” 

“Are you sure you can do this?” Caroline asked gently “Big magic always seems to have nasty side effects Bon, I don’t want you getting hurt.” 

“This is our best chance,” Bonnie confirmed “But it’s not without risk.”

“Of course not, how else are we supposed to get our kicks in unless were almost getting ourselves killed every other week.” Damon smirked 

“I’ll be using all of my own magic that I have left, and I’ll be drawing almost all of yours too,” Bonnie said “When we arrive there we will be wiped out, we certainly wont be at full power for some time.” 

“How will we get back?” Stefan asked

“One problem at a time Stefan, this spell has to work once before it can work again.” 

They all shared a nervous look but any alternative to doing this seemed dire and so acting decisively was the only play they had left. 

Bonnie sucked in a breath and blew it out slowly through her nose. 

“Alright,” she declared, “Join hands and clear your minds.” 

They did and once they did the lights throughout the boarding house dimmed and the wind outside seemed to pick up and howl against the night. 

Bonnie concentrated harder, choosing her words very carefully as chanted with the greatest force she could muster. 

There was a crash of lighting outside the windows, and the fire in the hearth raged forward and then blew out in a puff. There was a crashing noise and the windows around them shattered blowing shards of glass inwards carried by the furious gale. The wooden floorboards under them began to creak and shake, as the entire structure around them seemed to shutter and strain. 

If they hadn’t all been feeling their very life forces being drained from their bodies they might have reacted, but the violent elements barely registered. 

Bonnie could feel her legs shaking and her knees preparing to give out. She felt a surge in her gut as the magic began to take hold and she could feel that her spell was close to completion. She grit her teeth and urged the magic to flow into her faster and harder. The floodgates opened and she felt the energy of four powerful vampires pour into her body. 

She felt her joints lock and her head seemed to burn with fire. Her bones themselves felt as though they were made with molten lava. 

She screamed. 

With one last repetition of her spell’s final verse the last of the magic shot through her, using her like a lightening rod channeling the magic into the void. 

The magic died out and Bonnie knew the spell was complete. 

The ground beneath their feet stopped shaking and a gust of cool forest air blew passed them cooling their fiery cheeks. 

Their eyes fluttered open in unison, all drawing in a gasp of air together. 

They locked eyes with each other and as their vision cleared they came to see that the Salvatore Boarding House was gone and they now stood holding hands around the base of an ancient and looming tree deep in the heart of a dark forest. 

Feeling as though she had just swallowed hot gravel Caroline spoke in awe 

“Is that…” she couldn’t believe it “Is that the White Oak?” 

Elena felt herself nod also feeling strangely reverent towards this legendary tree.   
Only scraps existed in their time, mostly carved into stakes out of necessity—the only weapons capable of killing Original vampires. Seeing the original source of the Mikaelson’s power and weakness still rooted and flourishing in the earth was surreal. 

Bonnie had heard the stories about the spell used to create the vampire curse. It had drawn power from the white oak—one of nature’s immortal objects—and had harnessed the power and longevity of the sun. To a witch, a magical object like this was practically a holy relic, its power was undisturbed and yet it vibrated with a tranquil life that was palpable here in its presence. 

“The original make and model.” Bonnie confirmed 

Stefan dropped Elena’s hand and reached out towards the tree pressing his palm against its bark. 

“It worked,” He breathed in amazement looking at Bonnie with wonder in his eyes “The spell worked!” 

No sooner than he had exclaimed with joy, his eyes went cold and he dropped motionlessly to the forest floor. 

“Stefan!” Damon surged forward

He too took one step and felt his knees give out and his legs collapse out from under him. 

Elena met Bonnie and Caroline’s concerned eyes and each of them too felt the pull of unconsciousness and then the impact of the ground beneath their backs as they fell into darkness. 

“Still no progress?” An accented voice spoke

“None yet, I still cannot imagine what these people were doing out in those parts of the woods,” said another “They have such strange clothes, they seem very much a mystery. No wonder he is so weary of them.” 

Damon felt himself stir and his foot twitched back to life in response to the voices swirling around him. 

He opened his eyes and immediately felt the sharp sting of the light on his tired eyes and his head and muscles ached and throbbed in joint rhythm. 

“Hello?” a voice spoke and Damon struggle to turn his head 

“I’m up.” He groaned 

He didn’t yet have the full strength to sit up straight but he felt his eyes settle and adjust to the light and the two figures came into focus. 

Damon recognized the older blonde woman and the younger dark haired man on sight. 

They both eyed him with concern but also what seemed to be relief in his consciousness

“Elijah, fetch him a cup of water.” The woman instructed 

The younger man nodded and stood 

“Yes, mother.” 

Shit.

“Oh you have got to be kidding me.” Damon moaned and suddenly felt very ready to pass back out. 

Beside him Damon felt movement and watched still foggily as sequentially Elena, Caroline, Bonnie and finally Stefan stirred from their sleep as well. 

Damon said nothing to them but as their own vision returned to them each went through the same cycle of emotions as they too came to terms with what Damon had already seen. 

The woman spoke kindly and softly and excused herself to fetch more water with her son and as soon as she exited the flap of the deer hide tent, Damon felt his head snap around to face everyone else. Their vacant and slightly haunted expressions were very descriptive and familiar to Damon.

“Oh yeah, I’m right there with you.” 

“Esther.” Stefan seethed between clenched teeth 

“And son.” 

“Play it cool guys,” Elena said evenly “We just need to find and warn Klaus and not get killed along the way.” 

“Easier said that done.” Stefan moaned 

The flap opened once more and the familiar dark haired figure of Elijah Mikaelson entered the tent. 

His face was very much the same as always but his hair was long and his iconically tailored suits were notably absence in place of a tunic and loose slacks made with durable utilitarian fabrics and wools and leather. His air of confident white-collar authority was deficient but he cut an admittedly impressive Viking figure. 

Caroline had always figured the older Mikaelson brother looked about 27 or 28 despite his true age containing two more decimal places. It was subtle but she saw now an innocence in him that suggested he still had at least another year until his biological clock stopped for good. 

“You’re up.” He said sounding much like himself but his polished accent containing an unidentified Scandinavian or European influence 

“We are.” Damon said feeling reasonably steely toward the older Mikaelson son 

“You had us all more than a little confused and worried there.” Elijah pointed out “Care to tell us how you all ended up dressed the way you are scattered out in the woods together unconscious on a full moon?” 

“We got lost.” Elena said “We’re travelers, from far away, but we became lost and were robbed and attacked last night.”

“Last night?” Elijah said making precarious eye contact with Elena “You should know, you’ve all been unconscious for several days, and that’s not counting how long you were there before we found you.” 

A hush fell over the room 

Bonnie swallowed hard, clearly that spell had taken even more out of them all than she had expected, and she thought she had been prepared for the worst. 

“Oh my god,” Caroline said shocked “We had no idea.” 

“We’re sorry to have been so much trouble.” Elena added trying to remain polite despite the rising panic in her chest 

Elijah kept his eyes locked on her as if he were looking directly through her. 

This was a skill of his that he had apparently possessed before becoming a Vampire Elena decided. But still, it was unnerving; he looked at her like she was a ghost that might fade away into thin air any moment. 

“It’s no trouble,” he said hesitantly “But if you truly are lost travelers, then you are welcome to stay here until you are healed enough to continue your journey.” 

“Thank you.” Stefan said with a sincere nod 

“I must warn you,” Elijah said in a suddenly hushed tone before quickly checking behind him with a hurried paranoid jerk “I would keep a low profile here…there are those who would question your presence here and who would seek to rid our encampment of you…of any outsider really. “

Elena recognized Elijah’s nervous disposition and weary body language, it didn’t take too much imagination to guess who it was that Elijah was afraid of and who would be unfriendly to them here. 

The infamous Mikaelson patriarch was not known for his accepting disposition or his agreeable and friendly behavior. Mikael would be a problem—that was already becoming clear. 

“Believe me, we don’t intend to stay long. It is clear we’ve obviously already over stayed our welcome to some extent.” Stefan offered 

Elijah nodded but said “No need to worry, you’re safe here.”

The way that he said ‘safe’ made it seem that he meant anything but it. 

“None the less, we’ll be on our way. We were only in the area for a quick stop, and must be moving on. You have my word we will leave you in peace shortly.” 

“Your word?” Elijah mused, “Not a thing to give lightly, so be sure that you do.” 

Caroline knew enough about Mikael and the way he had hunted and abused his children to see his influence in each of Elijah’s words and actions. Elijah was clearly trying to rush them to leave, but he wasn’t doing it to be rude or brush them off, strangely it seemed he was trying to save them from his father’s notorious wrath. 

“We will,” Caroline agreed as warmly as she could “but we can be on our way even sooner with a little help from you?”

He appeared puzzled 

“We’re looking for Klaus.” Damon said bluntly clearly irritated with having any further interactions with the Mikaelsons 

Elijah’s head perked up and his eyes narrowed on Damon. There was defensiveness to his movements and an immediate distrust that materialized out of nowhere the moment that Klaus’s name was mentioned. This was the protective instinct of an older brother—Damon knew it well. 

“What do you want with Niklaus?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd love to hear back from you guys, please leave a comment and let me know what you think so far!


	3. Chapter 3

Elijah stood strong. He squared off his shoulders and whether he meant to or not he took a defensive position with his feet as if he were preparing to fend off an enemy attack. 

This was Mikael’s effect. 

“We had heard from other travelers that he was a great artist, we were seeking to obtain some of his work as a favor for our benefactor.” Caroline said smoothly if not a little theatrically

Elena was stunned, where had that come from? Over the years that they had fled and fought Klaus Mikaelson Elena had considered him a psychopath, a dictator, a war criminal, but never an artist. 

Elena was not the only one taken back by this admission. Elijah himself dropped his shoulders in surprise. He squinted as if studying Caroline out of sheer surpise. 

“You’ve heard of his art?” he questioned cautiously 

“Of course,” Caroline lied “As we said we are travelers from far away and our expedition sponsor is a great patron of the arts so we kept our ears open to rumors of local artists in an effort to acquire some of their works as gifts.” 

Caroline turned to meet Elena and Damon’s eyes hoping for some support and encouragement but they were both too bewildered to supply any help. They just stared back at her with wide eyes and dropped jaws. 

Caroline spun back to Elijah and laid on a heavily flirtatious laugh hoping the human Elijah wasn’t yet as immune to those sorts of tactics as he would be one day. 

The laugh worked just enough that Elijah appeared uncomfortable and just asked “What have you heard?” 

“Oh, good things. Good things only.” Caroline assured him 

He was silent and still not clearly trusting to her answer but also not yet sure to doubt her story either. 

“You shouldn’t speak too loudly about that sort of thing around here,” Elijah said looking around vigilantly “Niklaus’s art is a subject of some contention, it is not wise to speak loudly of it. There are those who look down on such pursuits.” 

Once again the message was clear: Mikael 

“Do you know where he is or not?” Damon said finally shaken out of his disbelief 

“Perhaps,” the older Mikaelson brother said, “I’ll inquire, wait a moment.” 

He left the tent and as the flap closed behind him Caroline spun around to face everyone else. 

“Thanks for the back up guys! Way to hang me out to dry there!”

“I just couldn’t believe you described Klaus as an artist…” Elena said 

“I…I what?” 

“You totally did.” Bonnie confirmed 

Somewhat to Caroline’s horror Stefan and Damon also nodded their heads in agreement 

“We always knew he was obsessed with you, but dang who knew you were obsessed with him right back.” Damon teased 

“I am not obsessed with Klaus,” Caroline hissed “The art thing was just like…its just like a personal thing that I happen to know about him cause he mentioned it. Its not a big deal, I though Elijah would trust us more if I could show that we weren’t a threat and that we knew something personal about them.” 

“Klaus and Caroline sitting in a tree-“ Damon muttered to himself until Elena gave him a not so subtle shove and he fell backwards until he was back moaning on the ground 

“Ignore him.”

“Always do.”

“Anyway,” Stefan said hesitantly “We need to find some blood quick or we’ll never be strong enough to get out of here.” 

“So we’ll just lure in one of the Viking villagers.” Damon groaned 

“We can’t risk giving ourselves away like that Damon,” Stefan scolded “Vampires don’t exist yet and we can’t risk the villagers turning against us before we get to Klaus. We need to stay under the radar.” 

“Alright, bunny diet it is.” Caroline decided sounding way too cheerful to be talking about anything besides her and Klaus 

She leaned forward using gravity to her advantage just enough to force her way to her feet. Her knees felt like Jell-O and her head spun as she stood but they didn’t have time just to lie around and let nature heal them naturally. 

“I’ll go with you,” Elena volunteered struggling to her feet as well “Until we know more about this place, its not safe to go anywhere alone.” 

Carline nodded and the two of them stepped out of the tent straining their eyes in the suddenly overwhelming sun. 

For the first time they got a good look at what a Viking occupied Mystic Falls looked like a thousand years before their own time. 

There were around a dozen small huts and tents all scattered closely together in a makeshift encampment. Drying herbs hung in every window and fires and boiling cauldrons of the night’s supper cooked out in open-air kitchens. Children ran passed them chasing each other and playing the same sorts of games that Elena and Caroline remembered once playing as well. The men were probably off hunting or working elsewhere but the women they saw were dressed in long sturdy dresses bound with leather belts. Their hair was decorated with intricate braids and they wore simple bronze and stone jewelry. For the first time Elena and Caroline truly realized that they now stood in a different time. 

“Oh my god.” Elena breathed 

“Oh my god.” Caroline agreed 

The remaining villagers eyed them closely and suspiciously as they limped from the Mikaelson’s tent and towards the woods on the far side of the camp. 

The villagers made no effort to follow them—likely glad to so riddance to mysterious outsiders, so it wasn’t long until they were alone in the trees. 

Caroline focused and channeled her vampire hearing so she could hear the beating heart and the soft patter of the animals of the forest. She was weak but her vampire nature was enough that she could catch a few rabbits and squirrels without needing to push herself to top speed. 

Elena bound the animal feet together with a vine she pulled from a nearby tree and they began the walk back. 

“Hope this is enough.” Elena said 

“Its better than nothing,” Caroline said “Trust me, I’m starving and anything is better than nothing right now. The last thing we need is to be weak and starving out here so we really vamp out and eat the locals.”

“Just eat Mikael and Esther and save us all some trouble.” Elena joked 

It was dark humor but they both laughed before realizing there was some inconvenient truth in it. 

“Hey, did you think Elijah was acting weird earlier?” Elena asked eager to change the subject 

“He’s always acting weird,” Caroline said “Plus he’s human now so maybe he was just an extra weird person back when he was alive.”

“No, I mean, I thought he was looking at me weird.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know, I swear he was looking at me like he knew me or didn’t expect to see me or something. But that doesn’t make any sense right?”

“No of course not, Elijah would have no way of knowing you yet,” Caroline assured her “I mean, he hasn’t even met Katherine yet, so yeah there’s no way.” 

“You’re probably right,” Elena said laughing, “I’m just being paranoid.” 

“Yeah, totally.”

“Hey, you know Damon was just kidding about that Klaus stuff right?” Elena added 

“I’m not sure I know anything about Damon for sure,” Caroline said rolling her eyes “But yeah I guess, I mean I really did just say whatever I though would get Elijah on our side. I was just trying to create a good backstory. Plus none of you were saying anything so it was up to me, and you guys should know that’s bad because I tend to ramble on and say all kinds of things.” 

“Yeah, Caroline, we know.” Elena laughed 

“Yeah, I mean me and Klaus is a crazy thought. No way.”

“Yeah Car we know, Damon was just messing around. We know you’d never actually like him, not after everything he did. You’re better than that.”

“Wait, what?” Caroline said suddenly stopping 

“What?”

“I mean, I agree I guess but like we’ve all done terrible things. Stefan killed his father and went on a decade long killing spree, Damon has killed and tormented tons of people including his own brother, I’ve killed people, you’ve killed people, even Bonnie has killed people.” 

Caroline was getting strangely flustered and she didn’t know why 

“I know that,” Elena said “but I mean it’s Klaus, it’s not the same thing Caroline.” 

“Isn’t it?” 

Elena took a pause 

“Wait, Caroline,” Elena said breathlessly “You don’t actually…like…like Klaus do you?” 

Caroline was completely caught off guard he stomach dropped and she felt her face turn red 

“What?! No definitely not…I mean…he’s…he’s Klaus!” she stuttered, “I could never.” 

Elena eyed her carefully but didn’t say a word and decided to let it go 

“Sorry, You’re right,” she said “Its crazy.” 

Caroline was lost for words, her heart was beating so fast and her hands suddenly felt shaky and warm. 

“Where are we anyway?” Caroline blurted out now the one that was desperate the change the subject 

They both stopped and realized that the woods around them didn’t look familiar at all, and that they must have taken a wrong turn along the way. They were lost. 

At that moment a twig behind them snapped and they both spun around on instinct ready for a fight. 

But there was no great threat behind them—not yet anyway.

There stood a young and very concerned, very confused, and very human looking Klaus Mikaelson. 

Caroline gasped. 

It really was like looking into a different universe, it was…it just felt wrong…

It was definitely him. But there he stood with his dirty blonde hair grown out in Viking fashion just like Elijah and dressed in the same leathers and sturdy cloths. 

But it wasn’t his strange clothes that Caroline noticed first; it was his face.

The same facial features as when they knew him, but there was innocence in his eyes that Caroline hadn’t expected. He had no idea what was going to happen to him, no clue the man he was going to become. Caroline could see that in his face. 

Caroline could also see the outline of a fading bruise around his left eye and a cut on his lip. These were real injuries, they weren’t mystically healing with hybrid magic, they were wounds inflicted on a human that would time to heal. Caroline had never thought of Klaus that way before, he had always been so untouchable. 

“Are you lost?” He spoke with a surprising softness

“Um…” Caroline couldn’t find the words to answer

“Yes,” Elena stuttered, “we’re trying to find our way back to the camp but we got turned around.” 

He smiled. 

“You are those wounded travelers that my mother found in the woods aren’t you?” again he spoke with unexpected gentleness and playfulness 

“y-yeah.”

He nodded.

“Follow me.” His eyes were locked onto Elena 

Out of habit Elena felt on edge. Klaus had only ever looked at her that way when he had been scheming to kidnap her and use her blood to make his hybrids. She wasn’t use to his gaze. 

“Why are you staring at me like that?” it came out much harsher than she had intended it but she really was curious now with Elijah first and now Klaus eyeing her like she was some kind of prize 

He looked startled by the question 

His cheeks flushed and he broke eye contact looking away bashfully. 

“My apologies, you look so much like someone I know that I couldn’t help but stare.” 

Caroline and Elena were both taken back by his response.

Elena: because she needed to know more.

Caroline: because Klaus’s face had never looked more human. 

“Who?” Elena asked 

“A woman my brother Elijah and I know from the village, a widow named Tatia.” 

And suddenly everything clicked together. Elena had heard stories of Tatia—another of the Doppelgangers that descended from Amara and would eventually create the Petrova bloodline. She had been the first woman that Elijah and Klaus had loved and she was destined to die by Elijah’s hand once the vampire curse was enacted. 

“Oh, I see.”

“Have I been too forward?” Klaus asked trying to meet Elena’s eyes 

The whole thing sent a shiver up her spine. 

“Not at all.”

“My apologies, that was such a strange thing for one stranger to say to another,” he said, “My name is Niklaus.”

“We know.” Caroline said without thinking 

Klaus’s eyes widened in shock and he took a step back as if preparing to run. 

“What?”

“We met Elijah,” Elena said quickly giving Caroline the evil eye for nearly blowing their cover and spooking Klaus “He told us of his brother. You look so much alike.”

The last part was a lie thrown in for good measure. Caroline and Elena both knew the truth of Klaus’s parentage, even though at this time Klaus himself did not know that Mikael was not his true father. 

‘He does even know that he’s a werewolf yet’ Caroline thought 

For the first time Klaus met Caroline’s eyes and Caroline felt her heard pound an extra beat. 

His stare was intense but completely lacking in the fear it would inspire in the years to come. Instead he viewed her with the intense study of an artist as if just now noticing the shape of her face and the sunlight on her hair.

His stare was warm and inviting. 

“I’m Caroline.” She offered 

“Klaus.” He said dreamily 

Their eyes met and it was as if neither of them could look away. 

“The village?” Elena asked after a moment 

Klaus seemed to snap out of it but even as he moved forward he turned to get one last look at Caroline. 

“Right, sorry.” He moved through them to lead the way but as he did his hand brushed Caroline’s 

In that instant Caroline felt the warmth of his hand. The warmth that only came from a human beating heart. That was her final assurance that this man was not the immortal hybrid but a simple man. 

It wasn’t quite possible to think of him in those terms. Caroline had never put much thought into Klaus’s humanity, much less how he was as a human. But now seeing it before her she was startled by how strange and yet normal it felt. This man had no great ambitions or delusions of power, control, grandeur, or immortality. In fact, Caroline believed, this man might just still have the dreams of a simple living a finite human life. 

Klaus brushed through the last of the bushes as they crossed over into the village just as Caroline gave one last though to what might have driven this sweet and timid man to become the most feared and hated creature alive. 

That question was soon answered by a thunderous and chilling voice.

“Niklaus!” 

Klaus stopped in his tracks paralyzed and flinched away from the voice violently on reflex.

Under his shaking and petrified breath he managed to answer

“Father.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey I'd love to hear back from you guys and get to know how you guys are enjoying the story so far! Please leave a comment and let me know!


	4. Chapter 4

Caroline and Elena were frozen. Mikael came barreling down the village center sword in hand with Klaus alone in his sight and yet they couldn’t help be get caught up in the fear that the Mikaelson patriarch instilled. Mikael was after all a seasoned Viking warrior with no impulse control and no fear of hurting or killing those in his way. 

He pushed his way passed several of the women and children still gathered in the open village and stormed his way towards a paralyzed Klaus. 

“You boy, where have you been hiding?” He demanded 

“In the woods, checking the traps just as you asked Father.” Klaus stuttered struggling to make eye contact with the furious warrior 

Mikael scoffed at this idea 

“And found nothing I see,” Mikael challenged “useless as ever Niklaus, pathetic.” 

Mikael was fuming and Klaus was now visibly shaking. 

Caroline couldn’t believe her eyes. She had witnessed first hand Mikael’s fury, but the Klaus she knew, while always fearful and careful of his father, never backed down and never showed the fear that he felt. 

Mikael looked away from Klaus in disgust and his eyes landed on Caroline and Elena. He clearly recognized them as the travelers that had taken refuge in his families tent and his displeasure showed. 

He turned on Klaus in retaliation; just finding him to be the nearest object that he could take his anger out on surely. 

“Off playing games and drawing pictures with the women no doubt,” Mikael spat gesturing to Caroline and Elena just behind Klaus “You embarrass this family with your weakness.” 

With that he lunged at Klaus and struck him across the face and kicked his feet out from under him, knocking him to the ground. Mikael pressed his boot down against Klaus’s chest and pushed him into the dirt with all his weight. 

“What do you say to that, boy?” Mikael demanded 

Klaus seemed to be struggling to catch his breath after such a hard fall and was only able to respond by wheezing, “I’m sorry father, I was just trying to do as you said.” 

This answer was not satisfying to Mikael but he had nonetheless seemed to have gotten his anger out of his system. He lifted his foot from Klaus’s chest and kicked him in the side as a final attack before turning and marching away. 

Once he was out of sight Elena and Caroline were able to shake out of their fear and turn their attention once more to the shaken and beaten Klaus laying in the dirt. 

“Oh my god,” Caroline cried rushing to his side “Are you okay?”

Klaus seemed too shaken to reply but groaned in pain and nodded struggling to his feet. His healing bruised eye was freshly injured and his cut lip and reopened and was bleeding down his chin. 

Caroline realized immediately where those injuries had come from in the first place. 

Elena hadn’t realized how hungry she was until she saw the sight of the blood running down Klaus’s face. The animal vampire instinct in her burst out and she felt her eyes harden and sharpen as they honed in on the sight of blood. Thankfully, the smarter human part of her still headed Stefan’s warning about not giving themselves away and she forced her heart to slow and relaxed her tense muscles until she felt her eyes return to normal. 

“Caroline, we have to go.” Elena said 

“What?” Caroline jeered, “We can’t leave him.” 

“We have to.” Elena reminded her raising the bound squirrels and rabbits they’d collected from everyone back in the tent 

Caroline’s face softened as she remembered the point of their journey out in the first place. 

“We have to return to out friends,” Caroline said softly to Klaus who was sitting up and pressing his bleeding lip to a strip on cloth from his pocket “They’ll be expecting us. Are you going to be okay if we leave?”

Elena and Klaus were both apparently surprised by her sudden gentleness and kindness. 

“Yes, of course, he’ll calm down in time,” Klaus said clearly lying for their comfort “Go, help you friends.” 

Caroline nodded and made sure to move slowly and carefully away knowing well how sudden movements can shock and alert those under pressure. 

Elena and Caroline walking quickly towards to the tent and away from the confusing and disturbing display behind them. 

Once inside the tent it had been something of a mad dash for the food but once the blood had run dry, everyone appeared to be feeling much better. 

Bonnie was still weak since she had neither need for blood nor any benefit to be gained from it as a witch, but seeing everyone else feeling better lifted her worries and gave her reason to smile. 

“Hopefully the trip was uneventful?” Damon asked wiping the last of the Bunny blood from his lip “You were gone longer than we expected, we were starting to worry.”

Caroline and Elena exchanged looks and Elena nodded signaling that they should tell the truth about what they witnessed 

“Actually, we found Klaus.” Caroline offered 

The movement in the room roared to a halt,

“You found him?” Stefan asked amazing “Elijah had come back only to say that he hadn’t seen Klaus, we had started to wonder if he was already in danger.”

“In a way he was.” Elena offered before releasing a big sigh 

“How so?” Bonnie said 

“I don’t think this is who’s planning to kill him and destroy magic, “Elena prefaced ”But we found Klaus and ran into Mikael too.” 

“You saw Mikael?” Stefan ask shocked

Mikael’s reputation was well known to all here. They all had seen Mikael at work first hand in their earlier dealings with Klaus when they had made a deal with him to take the hybrid down. It had been a deal that had gone awry when Stefan had saved Klaus and helped get the murderous Viking killed in order to win his freedom. But in every moment they had spent planning and scheming with Mikael, they had all learned quickly just how ruthless and dangerous he could be. 

“Yeah…” Caroline sighed “And he was up to his same old tricks.”

“He attacked Klaus in the village center and beat him pretty good,” Elena admitted wincing slightly just at the memory of the beating “It was pretty hard to watch.” 

“So what,” Damon decided “He totally has it coming, that guys a psycho himself whatever he got, he deserved.”

It was harsh, but also hard to disagree with. It was no secret that Klaus had hurt everyone who now sat in this room trying to save his life. 

“Still,” Elena said, “This is when he was human. He hasn’t hurt anyone yet and if I only knew this Klaus I would struggle to believe he was capable at it at all.”

“You guys didn’t meet him,” Caroline agreed a little too eagerly “This Klaus hasn’t done any of that other stuff yet, he’s like a totally different person, its weird.”

“I’ve never seen him like this before,” Elena added “Its bizarre, I kind of can’t believe it.” 

Caroline wished she could agree but she had seen a small glimpse of this side of Klaus before. He had often taken time to show her a softer side of himself and those quiet moments where he had left her drawings and teased and laughed by her side were all just proof that this side of him still existed no matter how deeply it was buried. She wasn’t surprised that this side of Klaus stunned the others since he had only ever shown it to her, but still she had to fight the urge to defend him further—this wasn’t the time. 

“Okay so Klaus has a human side and a tragic backstory, get in line.” Damon goaded with a roll of his eyes 

“Oh you wish.” Elena joked back punching him softly in the arm 

Klaus had always most directly gone after Stefan for his friendship, Caroline for their connection, Elena for her blood, and Bonnie for her magic but Damon had always been the one caught in the cross fire when it came to Klaus. His grievances weren’t so much as personal as they were avenging on behalf of the many people in his life hurt by Klaus’s hand. Damon cared more deeply for his friends and his brother than he did for himself and so for him, this was the deepest cut the hybrid could have made. 

Damon would be the last person to appreciate this side of Klaus or feel any sorrow for Klaus after all that he had done, and no one could truly blame him for it. 

“I should go check on him,” Caroline decided keeping her voice low  
“You know …just in case.”

“Caroline its not safe alone, we should go together.” Elena offered and Bonnie nodded volunteering too

But Caroline knew that she had to speak with him alone. She had questions of her own that she needed answered, and this might be the only chance she had at getting them. 

“I’ll be careful,” she assured them “But this is something I should do alone. He trusts me and I don’t want to overwhelm him right now. Trust me, this is the smarter plan.” 

By now her real intensions were plainly seen and while still cautious the rest of the group nodded and agreed to let her go alone. 

Caroline left the tent feeling stronger thanks to the blood in her system and more directed than every thanks to a renewed sense of confidence that overtook her. 

Finding Klaus wasn’t so hard it turned out. The village itself only hosted probably 50 residents maximum in only 12 or 13 small homes built alongside an old Viking meeting hall and a blacksmith. 

Klaus was out standing in from of a series of halved tree trunks tied with thick woven ropes. He seemed to be using the insulated trunks as training practice and was practicing swordsmanship by swinging his weapon against the ropes and attempting to tighten his technique and cut the ropes. 

He grunted heaving his whole weight behind each blow but he did not seem able to even dent or graze the sturdy ropes. 

The Klaus that Caroline knew possessed unparalleled strength, seeing him struggling with the limits of his human power was confusing and admittedly comical. 

Still, even though Caroline knew very little of swordsmanship, it seemed that with Klaus’s repeated efforts and his promising stance and skill he should be able to break the ropes. He was not built like a bulky and daunting Viking warrior but he should have been strong enough to be making some kind of impact, it seemed strange that he wasn’t having luck.

“Practicing?” she called out approaching the homemade training grounds 

He looked over startled and moved to hold his sword behind his back his face turning red with embarrassment. 

“No, I was just…checking the security of these harnesses.” He lied clearly mortified having been seen struggling to break the knots 

“Uh huh,” she laughed inviting him to laugh with her “well how secure are they?”

He did laugh but his laugh melted into a sight as his head dropped 

“Disappointingly, very.” He said staring ruefully at the ropes as if their untorn and untouched appearance was mocking him 

“I’m sure its just good craftsmanship, or that you have to cut from a specific angle or height or something,” Caroline offered “It’s always something like that, brute strength isn’t everything you know.” 

“If only that were true.” He said mournfully 

“May I?” Caroline asked holding out an open hand for the sword 

Klaus smiled and handed it over curiously 

She held the heavy blade in her hands and swung it side to side just to feel the balance and then struck the targets slicing the ropes from around the trees so they fell into a knotted pile at the roots. 

Klaus stood behind her stunned. His face grew into a bashful smile and his ears turned red out of shame. 

“And that is why I will never be a warrior like my father wants,” he said bowing his head “You are untrained and unpracticed and succeed with ease where I have failed. My father is right…I am weak.” 

Caroline wanted to disagree and encourage him but the strange thing to her was that it seemed to be true. While she did possess vampire strength, she had used little of it, on as much as a man of Klaus’s human build should be able to summon. She had had no problem cutting through the ropes, they were like butter against the sword and yet when Klaus had tried it was as though he were cutting into stone. 

It didn’t make sense. He wasn’t a hybrid yet, he wasn’t even a vampire yet, but he was still a healthy and strong human who carried the werewolf gene even though he hadn’t activated it yet. Caroline though back to Tyler and recalled how aggressive and powerful young werewolves could be even before they woke their curse by taking their first life. 

Why wasn’t Klaus this way? 

Klaus shook his head and knelt beneath the tree behind him, tucking his knees into his chest and refusing to meet Caroline’s eyes 

As if out of habit his hand reached for a string tied around his neck and from under his tunic he lifted a necklace towing a carved wooden bird whittled by hand. 

Caroline had never seen it before but something about it sent a shiver up her spine. 

“What is that?” she asked 

Klaus looked down at the pendant as if he were surprised to see it. 

“It’s a charm that my mother made me,” he stared at it fondly “she gave it to me as a small child and told me to wear it always. It was her gift to me, a sign of her love.”

He spoke fondly clearly preferring this image of his mother to the reality of his father. 

But if that were the case and Klaus had the habit of wearing it always, then why Caroline never seen it or heard of such a charm before throughout all of her dealing with Klaus?

“Can I see it?” she asked reaching out to him slowly so as not to frighten him 

He did not remove the necklace but he brought it out and reached the charm out along the length of the cord towards Caroline so that she could hold it in her hand.

Vampires didn’t have the same handle on magic that witches do but as magical creatures they did have a vague sense when magic was present and something told Caroline that this necklace contained powerful magic. 

And suddenly Caroline began to put it together. A necklace containing powerful magic around the neck of a man who held the potential for much greater power than he seemed have—something wasn’t right. Esther had given him the necklace with the instruction never to remove it. Esther would have known that Klaus carried the werewolf gene, and if that secret were ever to be discovered—say by an aggressive and powerful Klaus making his first kill—then there would be all hell to pay. 

“Klaus?” Caroline asked carefully 

“Yes?”

“What would happen if you took it off?”


	5. Chapter 5

“Took it off?” Klaus asked with an air of innocence “What do you mean?”

Caroline suddenly realized what a strange thing to say that was. 

“Oh, nothing,” she laughed trying to deflect “I just meant to ask if you’ve ever taken it off before?”

Fuck. That wasn’t any smoother. 

Klaus looked back down at the amulet in his hand fondly. 

“No. My mother made me promise never to take it off.”

“And you never did?”

He thought for a second. 

“Well…I suppose I did that day I lost it.”

“Lost it?” Caroline asked maybe a little too forcefully 

She didn’t want to scare him off and could feel she was moments away from doing so anyway, but something felt strange about that necklace and she couldn’t shake it. 

“Once, as a boy, I remember losing the necklace while playing. I dropped it….” He recalled slowly as if deep in thought “What a strange day…”

“Strange?” Caroline found herself asking urging him to continue 

“I think…I think I ended up hurting someone…” he whispered in a sudden tone of horror “Another boy my age, we were playing and it got out of hand…I hurt him…why did I hurt him…?” 

It was strange. It was like the memory had been buried and he was only just now finding after all the years. Caroline could feel the genuine shock radiating off of Klaus as he reeled at the thought of hurting another person. A very un-Klaus like move from her perspective. 

“I’m sure you didn’t mean to,” Caroline assured the visibly disturbed Klaus “Sometimes while playing you can go over board, kids get hurt accidentally playing all the time.” 

“I was so angry…” He murmured “I’ve never been that angry, I’ve never hurt someone like that before, I’m not like that.” 

Caroline could feel that this was important. 

“What did you say you were doing that night?” she pushed one last time trying not to send the newly confused and upset Klaus overboard 

“It was a celebration, a festival of sorts, we were all playing around the fire,” he said staring straight ahead and refusing to meet her eyes “It was our Viking harvest celebration that night but we were also celebrating our safety from the wolves.” 

“Your safety?”

“Most of our celebrations had been upstaged by the rituals of the wolf tribes further out in these woods. Many Viking festivals coincide with natural auspicious moments and many of those nights are dangerous nights to be out at night. This was the first festival since the peace began.”

“What kind of ‘auspicious’ occasion was this?” Caroline asked afraid she already knew the answer 

“I think that night’s festival occurred on a full moon.” 

The image slid into place. A young Klaus—under the influence of a full moon—had harmed another child for the first and only time since. There must have been plenty of full moons since, and yet only that night triggered his wolf gene. The night he lost that necklace. 

“You have to believe me,” he begged suddenly turning on her and clasping her hands in his “That’s not who I am. I’m not that kind of person. I don’t want to scare you; I’m not like that. I can’t be like that. I can’t be like him.” 

Caroline felt her heart drop.

“I believe you.” She said looking into his desperate eyes and seeing how scared he was at the thought of becoming his father.

Caroline slid her hands out of his grasp and enclosed her’s around his.

“Try not to worry,” she said as comfortingly as she could “Focus on the good things in life.”

This seemed to catch him off guard but it also seemed to center him back into reality and seemed to be a calming relief to him. 

“Like, hopefully, more time with you Caroline.” He offered, his voice still shaking

She felt her whole face light up. 

“What else?” She found herself laughing out of reflex but also not denying how much she wanted that too 

“Speaking of the full moon,” he laughed “My youngest brother, Henrik, has been begging to sneak out and see the wolves tonight and I had promised to take him.” 

Caroline felt a crack inside her chest as this perfect moment shattered. 

She knew full and well the story of the night that Klaus took Henrik to see the wolves. She knew that this was night that Henrik died in Klaus’s arms and that it was the night that Mikael and Esther would decide to enact the vampire curse to protect their remaining family. 

As much as Caroline’s body screamed for her to warn him about what was to come and to save him all of that pain and all of that hatred, she knew that she couldn’t change the future and that meant letting a young boy die and allowing this sweet innocent man before her to begin the journey to become The Great Evil himself. 

Caroline bit her tongue screaming ‘don’t go! Please don’t go!’ behind her eyes, feeling her heart breaking. It had only been a few hours, but Caroline felt the slow and heavy grasp of grief coil around her throat as she fought back tears trying not to be seen. It wasn’t her place to tell him that tonight his life would change forever but she already mourned the loss of the man before her, knowing what anguish awaited him. 

Klaus stood up admiring again the slashed ropes against the tree and then staring sadly at his necklace still reeling as through he was seeing it for the first time. 

“I’ll see you Caroline,” he said softly and slowly “Hopefully then you can tell me where all that pain of yours is coming from.”

Caroline’s heart pounded a beat. Evidently, she had not concealed her tears well enough to keep them from his notice. 

“Klaus…” she began

Her heart pleaded with her to keep going, to come clean and to save him all that pain, but she bit her tongue, swallowed her tears, and forced a smile instead. 

“Stay safe tonight.” 

He smiled wearily sensing some of her real meaning behind her words. 

He turned to leave. 

“I’ll try my best.” He said sadly and with a note of curiosity

There was a hesitance in his words and a suspicion in his eyes, but he didn’t push the subject. Caroline could see that he knew what she was saying, but he also saw that she couldn’t tell him and he was resigned to his fate knowing that something was going to happen. 

Vikings weren’t strangers to oracles and seers; it was rooted in their culture and their words were honored and venerated. 

He asked no questions as he walked away. 

Caroline felt a warm tear slip out of her eye and she turned and found her way back to the Mikaelson’s tent where all of her friends were still waiting. 

“Oh my god, Care,” Elena said seeing Caroline’s face as she entered through the door “Are you okay? What’s wrong?” 

She sniffled and melted into Elena’s hug 

“Nothing I didn’t know was coming.” 

Caroline took a seat and as calmly and coolly as she could manage, she told everyone else what had happened with Klaus. It turned into a much longer story than Caroline realized and by the time she came up for air she could see that the sun had gone down and night was pressing into the camp. 

“So what kind of vibes did you get from this necklace?” Bonnie asked with her witchy interests piqued 

“It was powerful. Kind of potent and it felt like I was looking at something I shouldn’t be. It was uneasy and tense. Bad for sure.” 

“It’s got to have been spelled with some powerful magic for a non witch to be able to feel its power,” Bonnie said thinking, “You’d think Klaus would be able to sense it too.”

“That’s the thing. I think some of that magic might be to keep him to noticing it in particular.” Caroline said remembering the strange way Klaus looked at the necklace and the way he talked about his night without it 

“Why would Esther create a necklace so powerful that she had to veil it to keep Klaus from sensing it?” Stefan said squinting his eyes in though 

“He said it was for his own safety,” Caroline recalled “I think…well…I think it might be designed to repress his wolf side.”

Bonnie’s eyes widened 

“I mean…magic that strong probably would be palpable that way. He’s not a hybrid yet but Klaus is still a werewolf and that’s some ancient magic that would not he suppressed easily.” 

“So Esther gives Klaus a magic necklace so he cant go full Viking Werewolf in London in order to what? Keep Mikael from learning the truth?” Damon mused 

“It’s supposed to quell his werewolf side and keep him from activating the curse I think,” Caroline said “Young werewolves are volatile. You guys remember what Tyler used to be like. The werewolf gene encodes aggression and strength, like it wants you to active your curse and take a life. Esther wants to keep Klaus from becoming a wolf and so she’s spelled him with magic that keeps him weaker and veiled the necklace so he wont take it off.” 

“Talk about family issues.” Said Damon 

“Mikael would kill Klaus, his father, and probably Esther if he found out.” Stefan said thoughtfully “The only reason any of them survived Mikael’s wrath was because they became vampires and Esther’s old magic was lifted and Klaus could fight back.” 

“Oh no…” Bonnie whispered slowly coming to a realization, “We were wrong…”

“What are you talking about Bonnie?” Elena asked feeling concern settle in her chest “What were we wrong about?”

“We thought that this threat was coming to kill Klaus,” Bonnie murmured “But what if the plan is to let Mikael do it instead? It’s to prevent them from becoming vampires and let Mikael kill Klaus for revenge.” 

A hush fell over the room. 

“Well if that’s true then we need to rework our strategy, were looking at something completely different than we though.” Stefan said 

“So we don’t actually need to save half-n-half out there, we just need to make sure he becomes a vampire and Mikael doesn’t kill him first.” Damon groaned 

“And how the hell do we do that?” Caroline laughed derisively 

“Easiest way would be to keep Mikael appeased. Stop anything bad from happening tonight that would set Mikael off.” Damon said

In a moment of glorious cosmic irony the stars laughed and a frantic voice could be heard tearing through the trees towards the village. 

“Mother!” the voice screamed devolving into sobs “Mother, help! It’s Henrik. Mother!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Sorry for the long delay in getting this chapter up. I have definitely not given up on this story and am looking forward to writing more! If you have any thoughts are feelings at the end of this chapter I'd love to hear from you so please leave a comment!

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked it or have any thoughts I'd love to hear from you! Please leave a comment :)


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